States have been given the discretion to allow foreign
investments in retail. Andhra Pradesh has taken the lead in
allowing foreign investments by launching its retail trade
policy.
The State contributes 8 per cent of the total retail market of
13 million stores in India. There are 83,000 organized sector
stores in the state and this number is expected to rise up to 1,
66,000 by 2017. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister has announced a new
retail trade policy, a first of its kind in the country. The
government through this policy aims to attract Rs.5, 000- Crores
investment in the retail sector by 2020.
Trends indicate that the state has a huge potential to become
prime retail trade destinations and could be a significant
employment generator. The new policy targets creation of 20,000
fresh jobs in the sector by allowing flexible business hours of the
retail stores i.e. seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. and
engagement of workers on hourly basis (number of workers
